In culinary school we’re taught a simple rule of thumb: fat is flavor!

Whether it’s sautéing rice in butter for a risotto, finishing a perfectly grilled squid with olive oil, or tossing gnocchi pillows in sage cream sauce, fat adds depth of flavor, richness, and mouthfeel to every dish.

For many years Americans have avoided fat in their diet thinking it was the link to health issues such as heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. However, science over the past 2 decades has been telling us a much different story. While everything requires moderation, it turns out refined carbohydrates and sugars play a much higher role in those disease processes than dietary fats.

In fact, according to reports by JAMA, the Sugar Research Foundation funded a massive research study in the 1960s and 1970s to “successfully cast doubt about the hazards of sucrose while promoting fat as the dietary culprit in CHD.”1

The truth is, illnesses like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity are more related to sedentary lifestyles in combination with a high simple sugar, low-fiber diets than dietary fat intake.

What does that mean for us as culinarians?

FAT IS BACK!

In moderation of course. But still, we don’t have to fear butter anymore, and that’s exciting!

So let’s take a look at some current fat related food trends.

Butter Topped Coffee

Yea, it’s really a thing, and it’s pretty incredible. If you follow our Austin Food Truck series, you’ll remember a write up I did for the South side food truck, Piknic, who serves a great butter coffee. They top their dark roast with grass-fed butter and MCT oil, providing richness as well as an array of healthy poly and monounsaturated fats.

Full Fat Dairies

If you’ve been to the grocery store in the last 10 years you’ll have noticed there’s a wide array of low-fat dairy foods, such as yogurt and cheese. To off-set the loss of flavor that fat provides to these products, they are often boosted with sugar, artificial sweeteners, or other fillers. Fortunately, full fat varieties of these foods are surging back. Keep an eye on Noosa Finest Yoghurt out of Colorado. They produce a uniquely awesome line of full-fat yogurts with flavors like Mexican Chocolate and Blackberry Serrano.

High Fat Cooking

The restaurant scene has not been blind to the fat-friendly changes in the nation. Becoming popular again are rich foods like foie gras, pate, schmaltz, and marrow. Culinarians are frying potatoes in duck fat while finishing soups with lard. How about a slice seared beef tallow over sushi rice? Or chicharrón tacos? I’ll say yes to all of the above.

This is just a snapshot of upcoming changes in the world of food and fat. If you’ve seen anything incredible in your culinary travels, leave a comment and let us know. We’d love to hear about it.